Naked Isn’t “Natural”

By Ashley Bennett

It’s pretty frequent to discover that food sold at large retailers have ingredients that are not all that they’re cracked up to be. Enter Naked Juice Co. (owned by Pepsi Co.) is a company that has advertised it’s fruit juices as containing “all natural,” ingredients with “100 percent Juice” or “100 percent Fruit.” Innocent bystanders are obviously enticed by the fresh, pure advertisement of these beverages which are labeled with very clear portions of how much fruit/vegetables are in each bottle. The popular “Green Machine” contains 2 3/4 apples, 1/2 of a banana, 1/3 kiwi, 1/3 mango, a hint of pineapple with “boosts” of spinach, wheatgrass and ginger. Sounds deliciously healthy but these it’s not just juiced fruit that inhabits these bottles. A recent court case has officially proved that Naked juices aren’t quite so naturally naked at all. According to TheHuffington Post, the case’s main highlight is the definition of what it means to be labeled as “natural” in the first place. Even the FDA stated that with the simplicity of the term, it’s hard to define any product as natural (due to the reality of processing). This isn’t the only case dispute over the natural state of retail products. Health Lawyer Michele Simon states that there are a number of similar cases which wrongly pass sell products with untrue advertising with the word “natural.” In reference to the recent case, Simon states that “This company is basically surrendering the use of the offensive, deceptive marketing term.”

As of Wednesday, August 28 Naked has indeed relinquished its use of the “natural” slogan, according to the OC Weekly. As it turns out, there is a presence of many other non-natural ingredients such as zinc oxide, ascorbic acid, calcium pantothenate and vitamins (which has actually been discovered to be a synthetic fiber).

The ingredients won’t change but the company products will henceforth be seen with an equally vague “Drink Good. Do Good.” slogan. Of course the best part of this event invites anyone who has ever purchased a bottled of Naked juice to get a piece of that settlement. Individuals who can prove their purchase of naked juice between September 27, 2007 and August 19, 2013, can receive up to $75 pay for the wrongful claims. Without that proof, consumers can still get at least $45—so long as you complete the settlement claim form by December 17 (click here for details on how to get your settlement. Visit www.nakedjuiceclass.com for extended details).